sharpening greenteeth

[zsteinmetz]

Has anyone had any luck sharpening there greenteeth the way they suggest with a drill press and grinder? Just wondering if its worth buying the 16o dollar grinding wheel or just buying new teeth? Are they as sharp as they were from the factory or close to it?

 

[flushcut]

I don't use green teeth but have found sharpening my yellow jackets is more of a pain in the ass than it is worth. The time it takes to do it is not worth me doing it. I send them to a guy in Michigan that wet grinds them for I think $3 per tooth and has a week turn around time.
To answer your question it does work I know guys that do their own but ask yourself what"s your time worth.

 

[ponyexpress976]

I just sent my 700 series to Gordon's sharpening service. Does them for 1.50 each and like stated before "what's your time worth"? Mine is worth sending them out for 1.50, not having to set up the grinder/drill press and sit there watching them spin for a couple minutes each (80 teeth get old real quick).

 

[stumpgo]

Yes, works well for me on 1100s. $160 for a wheel seems far too much. I currently pay UK £37 per wheel. (6" dia, 60/70 grit, 1/2" width, 1/4" thickness of abrasive - This produces a profile similar to the non deep dish cutters and will do 100s of cutters). Achieving factory sharpness is straightforward.

Red Roo, the Australian version, recommend grinding the side rather than the top. I do both, thus balancing the loss of carbide thickness and diameter. This allows more sharpenings before they are useless, and gives me something to do while the timer set up is doing its stuff.

12-20 an hour. All done in a small shed 2 steps from my back door.

A good dust extraction system and/or face mask are essential. Breathing carbide dust is a very bad idea.

The downside is that as the cutters become smaller the wear to nuts and pockets increases.

 

[Creeker]

Your last line expresses my opinion Stumpgo.........the smaller the dia. of the cutter carbide the greater the exposure to wear on the pockets.

Pockets here round $27'ish per each.

I don't sharpen my 700 series for that reason, they are had it anyway by the time I take them off....plenty of rocks, bricks, steel it seems wherever I work !!

 

[equipmentguru]

Tooth and pocket pointers

Sharpening teeth is a great idea to try and save some money. One thing to keep in mind is that if you have problems breaking teeth it could be related to metal strength of the tooth weakening and it may be time to replace them rather than sharpen them. It all depends on the material that the tooth hits. The teeth will wear on the outermost half of the cutting edge. Once the outer edge on a left and right tooth wear out, swap the left with the right and the edge that was on the inside will now be on the outside giving you more life per tooth. You can also try swapping the straights with the lefts and rights. If you run into a problem with the teeth loosening too much you might have to replace the nut. Some people switch to an all metal crimped style lock nut rather than a nylock nut that has nylon material that locks the nut to the tooth. If that doesn't fix the loosening issue than the stop edges that are molded into the tooth that keep the tooth from spinning around could be worn out and require tooth replacement. You can also try swapping the pockets from side to side. The pockets mainly wear on the front edge and by swapping the left with the right, the edge that was in the rear is now in the front. Good luck to everyone.

 

[Creeker]

Understand where you're coming from eguru and that you're undoubtably on the right track with 'some' types of teeth and pockets.

The greenteeth, as I understand it, don't work like that.

Catch up with someone who has them and I THINK it will be clearer.

all the best mate, regards Creeker. :msp_smile:

 

[wheelloader123]

Send them to Gordan's Sharpening Service ( as the previous gentleman stated). He has been sharpening my teeth for years and does it right and frankly "cheap". He developed some specialized machinery for the purpose and it shows in his ability to replicate the factory dimensions.

 

[equipmentguru]

I do realize that not all teeth and pockets can be interchanged I am offering advice for people to keep in mind and when someone switches to a new style tooth they should keep those factors in mind.